SAN ANTONIO — A St. Mary's University law student arrested on campus last week on arson and attempted murder charges out of Louisiana appeared in a Bexar County courtroom Thursday and said he would fight extradition.

Matthew Edward Alexander, 29, is accused of having torched his ex-employer's home and car in West Monroe, Louisiana, earlier this month as two people slept inside. No one was injured.

Authorities in Texas who executed the arrest warrant last week initially reported that Alexander was charged with two counts of murder. Federal authorities later said those charges were not correctly entered into an FBI database by the investigating agency in Louisiana.

Confusion about the charges appears to be ongoing.

In court Thursday, Magistrate Judge Andrew Carruthers set Alexander's bail at $1 million — $250,000 each for two counts of arson and two counts of murder.

“I was told $225,000 would be the total, and the murder charges were reduced to attempted murder,” Alexander responded, appearing surprised.

The judge looked at court documents again before telling Alexander that the paperwork indicated murder. He declined to reduce the bail.

While returning to the jury box to await transport back to the Bexar County Jail, Alexander made an obscene gesture at an Express-News photographer, prompting bailiffs to rush to him and admonish him.